Well Now What?
by lol-lots-of-laughs
Summary: After the Christmas Party Sex Trap, Mindy tries to find the tube to her wine bra, and searches through Danny's desk. She accidentally finds a letter he wrote to her while she was in Haiti. Maybe it's time for Mindy to start pining after Danny.
1. Oops!

Mindy sat in her office a few hours after everyone had left the Christmas party. She had sent Cliff home after their make-out session on the patio- as much as she wanted to go home with him, there was a nagging voice in the back of her head that prevented her from it. She couldn't shake the feeling of.. rejection? is that what it was? from Danny not wanting to go outside with her. If she was honest with herself, she never really thought of Danny in that way until he started dancing, even though they had had a couple of close-calls in the past. But tonight there was something about him. She wasn't sure if it was the dance that changed everything in her mind or that before Cliff came back he had checked up on her like a really good friend, and person, would have. Or maybe just because it was Christmas. Whatever it was, she didn't like the feeling. She finally landed Cliff and she wasn't about to let Danny ruin it.

She got up, readying herself to go home to her empty apartment, and noticed that the tube that connected to her bra wine wasn't where she left it. She looked around for a few minutes, thinking it might have been kicked under her desk when Peter and Jeremy stormed in but she couldn't find it. What the hell.. if she had any chance of returning (or reusing) it she needed that tube. Suddenly she had a thought. Danny. He was probably trying to prevent her from drinking more so he probably took the tube and hid it somewhere. She threw her jacket and purse back down on her desk and figured it was probably in his office somewhere.

She poked her head out of her office and looked around to make sure she was the only one left. She didn't need anyone to ask her annoying questions about why she was snooping around in Danny's office. She quickly walked to his and shut the door behind her, just in case someone came in. Inching forward towards his desk, she scanned the room around her looking for the tube. Well, maybe he put it in a drawer… sure Danny would hate her going through his stuff but he shouldn't have taken it in the first place. She walked behind his desk and sat down.

"Yes I'm Doctor Castellano," she mimicked in his voice, making herself giggle.

She opened the top drawer and rifled through it; only folders and a stapler and pens. How boring. She shut the drawer a little too loudly and sat still for a minute, listening to make sure there were no other sounds in the office. She felt like a spy on a mission. The second drawer took a lot more effort to open; Danny used to use it all the time but at some point it must have gotten unhinged on one side so he didn't feel like bothering with it and put the papers somewhere else, which means that he hadn't looked in there in months.

She was finally able to jimmy the drawer open and began to go through it. More folders, a letter addressed to her, a pack of gum.. wait, what? She picked up the letter and noticed it had her address on it from when she was in Haiti. That's weird. Maybe he was going to send it to her but she got back earlier than expected. She tried to think back to what they had been talking about before she got home. Probably just her life with Casey and the work she was doing. Her curiosity got the best of her as she slowly turned the envelope over and opened it, peeking at the letter inside. Was it a good idea to read it? Surely it was just a regular conversation.. but Danny was such a private person she didn't want to go through his mail. Besides, she remembered the last time when Morgan mailed that letter he wrote to Christina he was pretty mad. Eh, what the hell, I'm gonna read it, she thought, taking the letter out and laying it out on her desk.

Suddenly the office door opened and Morgan strolled through wearing his Christmas sweater and a lab coat over it. He stopped abruptly seeing Mindy.

"Oh God! Doctor L!"

"Morgan? What the hell are you doing here this late? And why are you wearing Danny's coat?" Mindy tried to cover the letter with her hands but Morgan noticed it and walked in.

"I could ask you the same thing, Doctor L. Are you going through Doctor C's things?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me.."

Morgan hesitated. "I uh.. come in here at night and pretend I'm Doctor C. I type emails, make fake calls…"

Mindy tried to be as appalled as possible. "Morgan! Are you serious? That's ridiculous!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was in here.. to.. um.. looking for a patient file.." she tried.

"Come on Doctor L. I told you my thing!"

"Fine! I was looking for my bra wine tube and I found this letter he wrote to me while I was in Haiti.."

Morgan threw up his hands in a 'stop' position. 'Oh no no no no no! I am not being a part of this again! Doctor C almost killed me last time when I saw that letter to Christina! You are on your own Doctor L!" And with that Morgan backed out of the office and started running to the elevator.

"I wasn't here!" she heard from the hall.

Okay, she would worry about Morgan telling on her later. She smoothed out the letter and started to read.

* * *

Mindy,

Dearest Mindy,

Mindy,

I hope you're still enjoying Haiti.I miss you. You've been gone for almost three months and I find myself thinking about you more and more every day. It's funny, I was at home last night, trying to find something to watch on tv, when I saw You've Got Mail was on. It was at the part where Tom Hanks is telling her he wants to be with her, before she knows he was the guy she's been talking to all along. I love that part. It made me laugh, because I thought of you watching it. Christina asked me why I was laughing. I miss you, Mindy. I don't even know if I'm sending this to you. I'm sitting in my office trying to learn how to play Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Maybe I've had a drink. My point is. I just wanted to say that I wish you would come back soon. Life isn't the same without you here. I can't stop thinking about that night in the doctor's lounge, Mindy. I wish I could have kissed you. I wish I did. Maybe you wouldn't be with Casey and I wouldn't be stuck with Christina again.

Mindy, I'm in love with you. I love you. It feels so good to write it down.

Please come home.

* * *

Mindy sat back in the chair and stared at the letter in shock. Well, shit. Now what?


	2. Don't be ridiculous

Mindy awoke to a loud noise coming from..somewhere. She wasn't really sure where she was- and then it hit her. She was in Danny's office, with her head on Danny's desk, drooling all over Danny's unsent letter. She squinted at the sunlight coming in through a slit in the blinds and checked the time: 7:13am. She jumped up in a panic and straightened her glasses. Okay, it was Saturday, nobody would be here today. Except for what sounded like the cleaning crew vacuuming the floor. She folded up the letter and shoved it back into the envelope, but before she could drop it back into the drawer she heard talking outside the door. She clutched the envelope to her chest and snuck closer to the door, hoping it was just the cleaning crew.

"You're here early on a Saturday, Doctor Castellano!" she heard the cleaning lady say. Oh god. Oh no. She froze, her brain thinking of any kind of escape option: he'd see me if I ran out of the door. What about the window? No, no let's not go down that road I'd break a leg or something. Trash chute? Is there a trash chute in here? What am I thinking this is an office not a movie! Oh shit! She hid in the corner, which would be behind the door when it's open. She thought about hiding behind the desk but he would definitely find her there so she was running out of options.

A minute later the door swung open and Danny strode in, looking down at some mail in his hands. She managed to catch the door before it hit her and hid behind it. Maybe she could jump out and surprise him.. no there would be too many questions and for some reason Danny always knew when she was lying. She decided to stand still and wait for him to leave his office.

After what seemed like hours, Danny finally got up to stretch his legs and go to the break room for some coffee. Mindy heard him flick the coffee maker on, so she seized her chance and dropped to her knees. She started crawling out from behind the door, and poked her head out to make sure he was still in the break room. She heard a chair slide on the tile and sighed in relief. She quickly crawled her way out of his office and towards her own. Before she entered her office she looked up and notice the cleaning lady looking at her. She shook her head and made a shh motion to her lips, and the cleaning lady nodded, winked, and 'zipped her lips.' Mindy scurried into her office and sprawled out on the floor, catching her breath. Okay, maybe she could have walked; it would definitely have been quicker. And less painful on her knees. She reached towards the door with her foot and guided it so that the door was mostly shut; that way, if Danny walked by he wouldn't be able to see in.

Sighing, she reached into her pocket and typed in Gwen's name. She knew Gwen would be pissed at her for calling this early on a Saturday but she didn't care. This was an emergency.

"Mindy?" came a groggy voice on the other end. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Gwen, we really need to talk. Like. Right now. This is an emergency!"

"Oh my god are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need us to bail you out? Why are you whispering?"

"No no I'm fine- wait, what? Bail me out? Why would I be calling from- you know what, we don't have time. I found something in Danny's office."

"Why were you in Danny's office?"

"Gwen! Focus! I found a letter he wrote to me when I was in Haiti. It was like.. a love letter.."

"OH my god! Let me - Carl honey move your arm I need to get out of bed- Oh my god tell me everything!"

Mindy recounted her night and read the letter and Gwen responded pretty much how Mindy expected her to, except for when she said "I told you so."

"What do you mean you told me so?"

"I've been telling you that he liked you.. but what do you think?"

Mindy sighed. "I don't know. Danny's my friend. He's like a best friend. I wasn't even attracted to him until he started dancing. Well, I knew he had a hot body but you know what I mean. Besides, I'm with Cliff.. Hey, Gwen, it's so nice to talk to you again. I'm really sorry for our last fight. I can't even remember what it's about."

"You insulted my daughter and said she-"

"Yea we both forgot it's okay let's just move past it!" she said quickly. Gwen laughed and agreed. "Tell me what to do Gwen."

"Mindy you're not going to like what I'm about to say. Why are you calling me? If you didn't have any feelings for Danny before last night you wouldn't even worry about this. You'd be happy that you're with Cliff."

Mindy groaned. Maybe Gwen was right. Had she really been blind this whole time? Wait, no, Cliff was hot and she was totally going to keep that going. "That was like months ago, I doubt he feels the same way. Thanks Gwen I gotta go."

"What? Are you serious? Why did you call me if you're going to just disrega-"

"Thanks Gwen byeee" Mindy trailed off and hung up the phone. Gwen was just trying to mess with her, obviously. She didn't have feelings for Danny. Okay except for the attraction to the dancing. But honestly who wouldn't be attracted to him dancing like that? He was so agile and.. okay, no, focus.

She stayed on the floor for a few more minutes then decided it was time to drag herself up and sneak out to go home. She had no reason to be here on a weekend; Danny was the weird one who liked to come in and catch up on paperwork. Listening for any sounds coming from outside, she figured the cleaning lady had finished with the floor. Good, she would have a clear passage to the elevator now, if Danny was still in the breakroom, or even better his office. She felt ridiculous about all the sneaking around she was doing but it was better than the alternative. She snuck out of her office and tried to stay flat against the wall. She sprinted to the elevator and hit the down button, muttering 'come on come on' under her breath. Finally the elevator arrived. Just as the door was about to close Danny came walking up yelling "hold the elevator please!"

Damnit! she thought.

"Mindy? What are you doing here? I didn't know you were in the office.." Danny said, so sweetly. He smiled at her, a completely normal smile, but she could feel her heart rate increasing. She remembered she was still holding the letter and held it behind her back.

"Heyyyy Danny. Danny boy. Danno!" oh god shut up.. Why was she so nervous? Danny raised his eyebrow at her and hit the first floor button.

"So how did it go with Cliff? What are you doing here?"

"It's great! He's great. I um.. forgot something here last night so I had to come get it." That's a pretty good excuse!

"Okay," he said simply, and they rode in silence the rest of the way down.

"So.." she started awkwardly as they stepped out of the elevator. She didn't want him to notice that she was in the same clothes from last night, so she figured if she kept control of the conversation he wouldn't say anything. "Why are you here? And why are you leaving already?"

"I needed to find something.. some paperwork. I forgot to shred it and I don't want any of the information getting out. Client privacy and all that. So then I did some paperwork for a while now I'm going home to get ready for my date."

Date? What? And was he talking about the letter? "Oh you have a date?" Why was she sounding so strained? She wasn't jealous. Of course not she was with Cliff. But a date? Why did he have to tell her about it?

"Yeah, just lunch," he said casually. "Alright Min, have a good weekend." He half-patted her on the shoulder.

"You too.." she replied, lost in thought. I'm not jealous, she kept telling herself. That's ridiculous. I'm going to call Cliff right now! She looked at her phone and saw that it was only 8:30. Okay well maybe right now wasn't the best time to call Cliff. She decided to go home and get some real sleep. Obviously this was all still fresh in her mind and messing with her.


	3. Oh hell no

This one's pretty long sorry

* * *

Mindy looked down at her drink and swiveled in her bar stool. It had been almost a month since she found Danny's letter, and during that time she had looked for clues to see if Danny could have still felt the same. Either he was the best actor in the world or he had really moved on with whoever it was that he was dating. She tried to ask him about it after his lunch but he told her it wasn't any of her business. Not really sure why she didn't press him further, she gave up and that nagging voice told her maybe she didn't want to know anyway. If she put a name to whoever it was then she might get jealous. The feelings she was trying to convince herself she didn't have for him were growing every day and it had gotten to the point where she couldn't stop thinking about him when she wasn't at work. Things with Cliff were great for about a week and then it just kind of fizzled out. He had broken up with her one night because he couldn't understand why she had to watch You've Got Mail so many times and he told her they didn't have as much in common as he thought.

So here she was, sitting at this bar, waiting for Cliff to show up because she was planning on getting him back. She just needed a little drink first. She looked at her watch: 6:45. She had about 15 minutes before he showed up. She tried mentally prepare herself for the conversation. She had everything ready: why they should be together, how hot they look standing next to each other, etc etc. Her phone buzzed on the bar top and she saw Danny's name flash on the screen. Why was Danny texting her?

"Hey how's your make up with Cliff going?"

"Will let you know. Got here early. Waiting."

"Good luck!"

She couldn't help but smile. Danny was such a good friend. He always cared about her, even when he pretended he didn't. About half an hour went by and she was another drink in. Cliff hadn't called or texted to say that he would be late.. and he would be able to see her when he entered the bar. She pulled out her phone.

"Hey you. Running late?" She waved at the bartender for another drink. Maybe there was traffic or the subway stopped working. Her phone buzzed but it was a call from Gwen that she pretended she didn't see and let it go to voicemail.

"What are you doing?" she texted Danny.

"Watching a documentary."

"Snore."

"How's Cliff?"

Mindy took a sip of her new drink and debated whether or not to tell Danny that she was pretty sure she'd been stood up. He could be so smug sometimes about the guys she dated. She must have lost track of time because Danny texted her again when she didn't respond.

"Min? Is everything ok?"

"He's running late.."

"Almost an hour?"

"It looks like it."

She looked around the bar; there were couples everywhere, just shoving their love into her face. There was nobody sitting next to her on either side so she couldn't start a conversation. She was completely alone. Another drink came and gone and she was starting to feel pretty good. Or incredibly sad, she couldn't really tell. She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned around, expecting to see some handsome guy who just couldn't avoid coming over and talking to her.

"Danny? What are you doing here?" she asked surprised, but unable to stop the massive grin forming on her face.

"I got a little worried about you. Are you okay, Min?" He sat down on the chair to her right, and she couldn't help but notice how damn good he looked. And smelled.

"You smell really good.." she said, oh shit that was out loud. Danny just shrugged and took her drink away from her.

"So Cliff didn't show up huh?"

Mindy put her left arm up on the bar top and leaned her head against her hand. "Noope," she drawled out.

"I'm really sorry Mindy. It's his loss." Danny reached over with his left arm and rubbed her right arm that was sitting on top of the back of the chair. She couldn't help but look at his hand. He was so nice. She was so happy that he was there for her and she just wanted to kiss him.

"What?" Danny asked, taken aback. She looked confused for a few seconds then realized she was talking out loud again. Oh well, what do I have to lose?

"You're the best, Danny, did you know that? I just want to kiss you sometimes." She picked her head up off her hand and leaned in to Danny, who didn't really know how to react. She looked at his eyes, those dark brown pools of emotion and desire and she could tell that he wanted her to do it. He reached up and pushed some hair behind her ear.

"Min…" he trailed off. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and stopped her completely. "I'm with Priscilla, and you're drunk." She felt her heart sank and thought she was going to throw up.

"Priscilla? That's a very uncommon name, and yet, why does that sound familiar?" They were still sitting very close.

"Yea she was the PR consultant we hired when everyone thought we were racist…"

"Mindy sat back up in her chair. "What?! I thought she said she wasn't "feeling it"?" she put air quotes around the last phrase.

Danny shrugged. "She called me back the next day and asked me to lunch. It's been going pretty well.."

She tried to reach for her drink but Danny pushed it farther away down the bar.

"Let's get you home," Danny said, and she let herself be helped up from the chair. She just wanted to be home and in her bed, listening to the Les Miserables soundtrack on repeat. They made their way out to the sidewalk and she was impressed with how quickly Danny was able to hail a cab. She scooted in and couldn't help but notice that was trying to sit as far away from her as possible. He half-smiled at her and sat the rest of the way staring out his window. She was going to say something about what happened at the bar, maybe make a joke about the drinks to get past this awful silence, but the cab pulled up to her apartment building and she could see Cliff sitting outside on the steps.

She straightened out her hair and skirt; Danny noticed what she was doing then noticed why.

"What is he doing here" Danny muttered, more to himself.

As soon as the cab was stopped Mindy opened her door and tried to cooly get out and walk towards Cliff. She knew there had to be a reason why he didn't make it to the bar!

"Cliff? What are you doing here?"

Cliff stood up and looked between Mindy and Danny, who had finished paying the driver and caught up with her.

"I am so sorry, Mindy. I don't have an excuse.. I'm an asshole. Give me another chance? Unless you're.. why are you with Danny?"

"I had to go get her out of the bar, where you stood her up, and bring her home," Danny said sternly, getting very defensive.

"I'm sorry Mindy. You can go now Danny, I've got it from here."

Danny didn't move. He just stood there with his arms crossed, staring at Cliff. "I think you should go home, Cliff. You did enough tonight. Mindy is better than this she doesn't need you."

Mindy opened her mouth to object but her face felt a little numb and it seemed like a lot of effort to argue right now.

"I think that's up to Mindy to decide, not you. What are you her bodyguard or something? Why do you even care?"

"I care because I'm her friend, now get lost."

Mindy's head started spinning and she decided to sit down. She stopped listening to Danny and Cliff, now slightly irritated that they were both still there. She started rummaging through her purse to find her keys when all of a sudden she heard someone yell and then Cliff fell to the ground in front of her.

"Danny what the hell?" she yelled, Cliff moaning on the ground with a bloody nose and Danny rubbing his hand.

"He was asking for it!" Danny defended himself.

Mindy helped Cliff to his feet.

"I'm going to go. It's been nice knowing you, Mindy, but I'm not dealing with this," he said and walked away.

Mindy stormed over to Danny and punched him in the arm.

"Do you want me to die alone Danny!?" she yelled. "Why did you do that!"

"You deserve better than that Mindy," he said, much softer than what she was expecting. No, she wanted a fight and he was going to play along. She hit him on the arm again.

"I don't understand you, Daniel Castellano!" she yelled.

"Why am I the bad guy here? He's the one who stood you up!"

"You don't get to decide who I do or don't go out with!"

"Mindy.."

"Shut up! No! You write me that letter about how you're in love with me and then you act like it's nothing and you go dating our PR consultant, who by the way, was a bitch, and now you're punching guys who want to get back together with me? I don't get you! Stay out of my personal life!" She felt pretty good about her outburst until she remembered that he never actually sent the letter to her.

Danny felt like a ton of bricks had just been dropped on him. He never intended for her to see that letter; in fact, he had gone to the office after the Christmas party to get rid of it because he wrote it when he was drunk and then forgot about it.

"Your personal life?" he was yelling now. "You don't keep your personal life personal! And how can you be mad at me when you went into my personal desk to find that letter?"

"That's all you have to say about that?" She could feel her eyes starting to burn and decided she'd rather get hit by a car than have him see her cry right now. She turned around and ran up her steps, finding her keys in her purse thankfully quick.

"You can go to hell" she said, tired of yelling, and slipped inside, leaving Danny standing on the sidewalk by himself.


	4. Oh hell no pt 2

NOT sorry for this chapter ;D. Thanks so much for all the reviews! I'll fix it soon, I promise! I don't like angsty angst dragging out for too long but it kinda keeps going that way right now.

* * *

Danny stood dumbfounded on the sidewalk as Mindy angrily disappeared into her building. What the hell just happened? His head started reeling with the realization of what exactly his letter had said. I love you, Mindy. Oh God. Sure he meant it at the time but he had been drinking all night in her office, trying to pretend that she wasn't gone. He replayed the doctors lounge over and over and over in his mind, each time imagining a different time it could have gone but it wasn't good enough.

Everything was different now, though. Sure when she came back from Haiti he was beside himself with hope that it was because her relationship with Casey had come to its natural end. And once again when she broke up with Casey did he let himself hope that something could happen. Yet nothing ever progressed between the two of them, mainly because he was afraid of putting himself out there again, but also because Mindy never showed any interest in him romantically. If she had feelings for him she wouldn't be dating a new guy every week, right?

He did notice that she was acting strange around him the past month or so. Nothing too out of the ordinary but little things; for example, where she would have grilled him about his dates before, with Priscilla it was like she didn't care. Or acted like she didn't even know about it. Even when he tried to bait her into the petty arguments they always had, she wouldn't go along with it. He also noticed that she was staring at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. He didn't really know why, but he had done a pretty good job convincing himself that he didn't care. Priscilla was great! Well, okay, she was a bit of a bitch like Mindy had said but he liked that about her. He was actually happy for the first time in a really long time.

Now he was pissed. How dare she hold that letter against him? This was a free country after all, where a man could write down his feelings in a letter and hide it. It wasn't his fault that he moved on and she found it.

A couple came giggling down the sidewalk and up the steps and he took the opportunity to get into the building, telling them he had locked himself out. She was not going to get away with yelling at him without letting him get his side of the story in.

He rode up the elevator fuming, causing the couple to awkwardly glance at each other and stand pushed up against the corner away from him. The woman took out her phone and started typing 911, holding it up to her boyfriend for confirmation. He shrugged and mouthed to wait until he got out of the elevator.

Finally the doors opened and Danny stormed out towards Mindy's door, and the elevator lady let her phone dial the number.

He started banging on the door. He was trying to help her! He didn't want to be in her personal life, she forced herself into his and now she was like this parasite he couldn't get rid of. He was finally over her and happy and she had to go and ruin everything by bringing up the letter and being...jealous? Oh no, she was not going to do this to him.

Mindy finally opened the door, hair and makeup a crying mess. Yeah he was totally going to let her have it. Except..well shit. Look at her.

"What do you want Danny?" she asked, sounding exhausted.

"You..I..how dare.." But he just couldn't do it. Maybe a year ago he could've said the most horrible things to her without feeling bad but not now. Not when she looked like this. And she was beautiful. And caring. Sure she was annoying but he liked that. All the feelings he had been repressing for months came flying back.

"Danny, seriously can you just say whatever hurtful thing you came to say and let me get back to bed?"

"I'm sorry. That's all. I'm sorry." He started walking towards the elevator.

"That couldn't have waited until tomorrow?!" She yelled after him, but when he didn't stop or turn around she shut the door.

A few seconds later there was a banging on her door again.

She opened the door but before she could say anything he was right in front of her, holding her head in his hands and staring into her eyes. She hated how intense is eyes could get, she felt like the walls were closing in around them.

"I have been right here, Mindy" he started, his anger growing inside him again. "I have always been right. here. yet you keep flaunting your boyfriends in my face? And somehow I'm the bad guy right now?"

She started to say something but he shook his head and she shut her mouth.

"So you found my letter, so what? What do you expect me to do now? You couldn't just let me move on in peace and be happy, could you? You just had to drag me down into your messed up world. Well I'm done with it. I'm done with you. I'm not playing your game. Maybe I did love you, but I sure as hell can't see why."

He didn't let go of her though. She looked down at the floor, wishing he would just go away already. She couldn't believe what he was saying to her; she thought they were at least at a place where they were good friends."Then leave." She spat, not looking up at him.

He felt like such an ass. He didn't want to hurt her like that but he just couldn't stop himself once he started talking. He could see that she was trying not to cry again. He lifted her head up and she finally looked at him again, and he hated that he caused her pain. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm ..Min.." He didn't move his head away. Instead he leaned in further and kissed her on the lips. She struggled against him and when he pulled away she slapped him across the cheek.

"Get. the hell. out" she said through clenched teeth.

"Ma'am, this is the NYPD, is everything okay? May we enter your apartment?" There were three police officers standing in the hallway and one of them was peeking their head into the apartment. When he saw the way Mindy looked he let himself in.

"We got a call from concerned neighbors. Is everything alright in here? Is this man harassing you?"

Danny was still rubbing his cheek and was wildly denying everything with his other arm.

Mindy told the cops that they had an argument but everything was fine and that Danny was on his way out.

"In fact, would you mind escorting Doctor Castellano out of the building?" she asked sweetly. Danny tried to object but figured it would be better if he just went with them. He wasn't about to end up in jail for the night because of Mindy. He followed them out quietly without saying anything else to her. He felt so helpless. All that time he was pining after her, and now she was holding that against him? What was he supposed do- read her damn mind? He couldn't believe he actually kissed her. He felt like he could fly right about now, except for how badly it ended and the cops showing up but other than that .. he finally kissed her.

By the time he made it home he was in shambles. Everything he had said to Mindy, every pained expression on her face, was seared into his brain. He couldn't believe himself. He felt like a different person, like the person he was after he found out about Christina. He never wanted to be that person again but something inside him just snapped. He unlocked his door, counting down the seconds until he could get into the shower and wash it all away. As soon as he walked in he could feel that something was off.. something wasn't quite right.

"Hey there," came a voice in the dark. From the couch? Somewhere in front of him.. He switched the light on and saw Priscilla sitting on the couch in nothing but a tie. Well, maybe he could forget about his issues with Mindy for a minute. And the question of how she got into his apartment…

Danny laid in his bed staring at the ceiling, Priscilla asleep next to him. The way he figured he had two options: apologize to Mindy in a big gesture Harry met whoever kind of way, or cut his losses now and get a new job and move on with Priscilla.


	5. Hear me Roar

Okay so I will apologize because I'm stubborn and I wanted to finish this but I'm also not awake so I hope it's not too terrible. Thank you for all the reviews!

* * *

Mindy stayed in bed all weekend. Whether she was unable to get up or just didn't care enough, it didn't matter. She felt worse than how she did after she and Casey broke up. She had spent so much time trying to get Danny to be her friend; letting him see all the sides to her. "Maybe I did love you, but I sure as hell can't see why." His words replayed in her head, and sure her boyfriends all usually ended up insulting her in some way or another, but not like that. Danny was her friend. She trusted him. After the letter she maybe let it get to her head that he was in love with her, letting herself imagine crazy romantic scenarios where he wakes up one day and decides today would be the day he wouldn't be able to keep it a secret anymore. She had turned her phone on silent right after Danny left her apartment, leaving her pager as her contact with her patients.

Monday morning came and she couldn't bear looking at him. She called the office and tried to sound sick, which wasn't really difficult because her voice was all scratchy from the crying. Betsy answered the phone and wished that she would get better soon. Tuesday came and went much the same. Wednesday morning she thought she could get away with just one more day, but when she called the office Betsy answered, sounding exhausted.

"Shulman and Associates; we will deliver the best OB/GYN service, this is Betsy how can I assist you?"

"Uh, okay Betsy, maybe just keep it short and sweet."

"Oh Doctor Lahiri! Please tell me you're coming in today! Doctor Reed has been so stressed out being by himself all week," she started whispering: "I saw him with queso dip last night before I left."

Mindy's heart sank. "What do you mean he's been by himself? Where's Doctor Castellano?"

"Oh, he called in on Monday saying he was taking some vacation days."

"Until when?"

"He didn't say. Doctor Lahiri you should probably get here soon, the computer system went down and we can't access any of the patient's phone numbers to reschedule so we have a lot of angry pregnant women here right now… Yes I'll be right with you ma'am thank-ow! You threw a pen at me!-"

Mindy hung up before she had to listen to the rest of it. Well, at least she didn't have to face Danny at the office. Maybe he felt like the ass he was and was hiding from her too. Or maybe he went on vacation with Priscilla to strengthen their love or whatever. She let herself wallow in her pity for a few more minutes before she decided that she was going to get out of it. She turned her iPod on and let the sounds of Katy Perry fill her apartment. That's right. I'm a hot doctor in the city. Nobody brings me down.

She took a shower, making sure to wash all the dried makeup off her face, and put on her best "I'm the best, bitches" outfit on. She wasn't going to let anyone, not even Daniel Castellano bring her down anymore. He didn't want her? Great! Someone else would. Or she could be alone and independent and kick ass! She made it all the way to the office with her new attitude, until she got off the elevator and saw the cluster of women around the reception desk.

"Doctor Lahiri!" she could hear Betsy call out, but all she could see through the mob was a hand sticking out. She took a deep breath and repeated Beyonce Pad Thai three times in her head.

"Good morning ladies, so sorry for the wait! Betsy, let me take care of the patients in the order of their appointments. I will see Doctor Castellano's patients as well. Where is Doctor Reed?"

"He's hiding- erm, he's in his office."

"Great! Do any of you have appointments with Doctor Reed today?" Only one woman raised her hand.

"Okay fantastic. So he will take care of you first and then he can help me with Doctor Castellano's patients." She marched over to Jeremy's office and barged in, only to find him hunched over a plate of brownies.

"Oh come on Jeremy! You have patients! And you need to help me with Danny's because apparently he decided going on vacation was more important."

"You haven't been here either," Jeremy's muffled response came as he was shoving more brownies into his mouth before she dragged him away by his arm sleeve. It took them a few hours but they were able to get through all of the patients. She sank into her desk chair at the end of the day feeling pretty good about herself; she managed to go all day without thinking about Danny. Well, except for right now. And nobody had tried to ask her about his vacation, either.

She put her hands in her lab coat pockets and felt her phone, suddenly remembering that she hadn't checked it all weekend. She dreaded the amount of messages she would have- Gwen probably called her a million times. The screen lit up her face and she was a little disappointed that there were only seven missed calls and three texts. There was one call from the office and the rest were from Danny.. he didn't leave a voicemail, though. Why call six times and not leave a damn message? Next she looked through her texts.

"Mindy please answer your phone we need to talk." - Danny, Saturday 4:37am.

"Let me know you're alive" - Gwen, Saturday 5:00pm.

"Fine." - Danny, Sunday 11:49pm.

If he wanted to talk to her he could do better than that. Her phone bleeped in warning that there was only 5% battery left. Damnit, she forgot to charge it. She looked around her desk for a charger but couldn't find one. Oh well, hopefully she wasn't getting robbed or run over tonight. She sat there for a while, just staring into space and thinking about everything. About an hour later her phone lit up, Danny's name appearing on the screen. He was calling her again. Her phone was at 2% now, so she figured she might as well answer it and let her phone die, simultaneously hanging up on him and preventing him from calling her again.

"What." she answered.

"Mindy! Oh I'm so happy that you answered your phone!"

"What do you want, Danny? We took care of your patients today, no thanks to you, so you're welcome."

"Oh, great, Mindy can we talk please? About what I said.."

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Doctor Castellano. Don't worry about your patients. Enjoy your vacation! I'm sure Priscilla looks great in a bikini.." she was trying to sound as confident as she felt earlier in the day but her voice was letting her down.

"Mindy please. I've had some time to think and I just have to say, I have to tell you that I still lo-"

She didn't realize that her phone died so she sat there for a minute waiting for him to finish his sentence. Huh, wonder how that was gonna end.

* * *

A week later Danny was itching to get home. He was helping his ma with some medical stuff and he didn't have time to get back into the city to see Mindy, who was still not returning his calls. He had broken up with a very angry Priscilla before he left on his impromptu trip, where he had a lot of time to think about what was really important in his life. He had to admit to himself that he was still in love with Mindy, as much as he tried to deny it and push her away. He had made a complete ass of himself, but he was determined to get her back.

It was the Friday before his return back to work and he called the office to make sure his patients had gotten scheduled. He was hoping that Mindy would answer the phone, not really sure why since she wasn't the receptionist.

"Shulman and Associates where we deliver the best OB/GYN care!" answered Tamra.

"Tamra why are you answering the phone where's Betsy?"

"Who is this?"

"This is Doctor Castellano."

"Oh I thought you quit…"

"I didn't quit I'm helping my ma with some family business. I need to speak with Betsy. Or Doctor Lahiri."

"I'm the only one here right now, holdin' down the fort. I think Doctor Lahiri is getting married? I wasn't invited so I wasn't listening.."

"What?! Tamra, you really need to think about this. What are you talking about?"

"Yea well Doctor Reed came in talking about how they were all going to a wedding for Doctor Lahiri and that guy… something with a C.. I don't know I was playing solitaire on the computer."

What the hell was going on? Danny had to get back there, _now_.


	6. I love

Danny was sleeping next to Priscilla, or, well, he was pretending to sleep. He had stayed up all night punishing himself for the things he said to Mindy. It was 6am when his phone started buzzing on the night stand. His heart leapt at the hope that maybe it was Mindy, to continue the fight, and then he could explain to her how sorry he was. Except it wasn't Mindy.

"Ma? Why are you calling me so early? Is everything alright?"

"Danny.. how are you? I haven't talked to you in forever!" She tried to sound cheery but he knew there was something off in her voice.

"Ma, what's wrong? Tell me." He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed, Priscilla not stirring next to him.

"It's nothing, nothing. I just had to get a small test done and I need you to take me to the hospital.."

"What kind of test?"

"I had a biopsy. In my breast. I just want you to go with me to get the results.."

Danny almost lost it. "Ma why didn't you tell me?! I could have gone with you the first time!"

"Danny please. Just come with me on Monday, please?"

He paced around in his living room for three hours before Priscilla woke up. He knew he was wasting his time, and her time, with this relationship. It really wasn't going to go anywhere. She was just a distraction. Okay, it would be okay. His ma would be fine and would live forever and one day she'll see his grandbabies and everything will be happy and perfect. When Priscilla finally came strolling out of the bedroom he had worked himself up into a tizzy.

"Okay you need to get out," he said, and the shock on her face was very clear.

"Excuse me?"

"You need to leave. Right now. I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work. Life's too short to be wasting time. I can't worry about you right now I need to be with my ma."

Priscilla spent a while yelling at him, then stormed out of his apartment, taking her stuff with her.

Monday morning came and Danny was sweating like a pig in the waiting room while his ma was speaking with the doctor. His mind was racing; his ma, life, Mindy, Priscilla, his ma, Mindy…. Mindy. He was so horrible to her and it was just eating at him. He pulled out his phone and tried to call Mindy but she didn't answer. He was about to dial again when his ma came walking towards him, tears in her eyes.

"How did it go? Are you okay?" he was trying to stay strong for her.

"It came back negative," she said, unable to control her sobbing now. "I don't have cancer!"

Danny thought he was going to explode as he grabbed her ma and hugged her tight. He took her home and insisted on staying with her for the week, just to make sure she was doing okay. She kept insisting that she would be fine on her own, but he insisted right back. His euphoria wore off later that night as his thoughts drifted back to Mindy. Life was too short, damnit. Too short to worry about fights. And so what if she found his letter? If that made her think of him in a different way, wouldn't that be a good thing? His heart started racing again and he started to get excited about going back to see her. He had to apologize and get her to forgive him. Even if they could just go back to being friends, he just knew he needed to keep her in his life.

The days were going by agonizingly slow. He kept calling Mindy but she wouldn't answer, until finally on Wednesday night he finally got through.

"What." she answered.

"Mindy! Oh I'm so happy that you answered your phone!" He practically jumped off the couch with excitement.

"What do you want, Danny? We took care of your patients today, no thanks to you, so you're welcome."

Just tell her you need to talk and will be back soon.. stay calm, he pepped himself. "Oh, great, Mindy can we talk please? About what I said.."

"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Doctor Castellano. Don't worry about your patients. Enjoy your vacation! I'm sure Priscilla looks great in a bikini.." she was trying to sound as confident as she felt earlier in the day but her voice was letting her down.

"Mindy please. I've had some time to think and I just have to say, I have to tell you that I still love you. Please just.. I have to stay with my ma for another week but I want to talk when I get home.."

The phone was silent. Did she.. hang up on me? he thought, his heart sinking to his stomach. He wondered how much of that she had heard before she hung up. He had gotten ahead of himself there so maybe it would be better if she hadn't heard it. He was getting so frustrated with her though, refusing to speak with him.

The week was finally over, and as much as he loved spending time with his ma he was dying to go back to the office. He was sitting in a cab in traffic and decided to call the office.

"Shulman and Associates where we deliver the best OB/GYN care!" answered Tamra.

"Tamra why are you answering the phone where's Betsy?"

"Who is this?"

"This is Doctor Castellano."

"Oh I thought you quit…"

"I didn't quit I'm helping my ma with some family business. I need to speak with Betsy. Or Doctor Lahiri."

"I'm the only one here right now, holdin' down the fort. I think Doctor Lahiri is getting married? I wasn't invited so I wasn't listening.."

"What?! Tamra, you really need to think about this. What are you talking about?"

"Yea well Doctor Reed came in talking about how they were all going to a wedding for Doctor Lahiri and that guy… something with a C.. I don't know I was playing solitaire on the computer."

What the hell was going on? Danny had to get back there, now. He rapped on the glass and asked the cab driver to get to the office as fast as legally possible.

He told the cabbie to wait and ran into the building and almost shook Tamra to get more information out of her. She looked around on the desk and found the address Mindy had given her of where they would be that day. He impatiently waited for the elevator to reach the ground floor and ran back to the cab. He was going to stop this, no matter how ridiculous he was about to look. If anything it would match some kind of outlandish romantic comedy ending she was always wanting. He practically threw the piece of paper at the cab driver and impatiently tapped his thumbs against his knee as they started driving. They finally pulled up to the house and Danny quickly paid and bounded up to the front door. The house was decorated with balloons outside. What an odd place for Mindy to have a wedding..it seemed so down-to-earth and not at all her. He opened the door, barging in and looking for her. He knew he was sweating but he didn't care; he just hoped he didn't have to see Cliff or he didn't know how he would react. How dare he?! He stormed through the house trying to figure out why there was nobody inside.. until he realized that everyone was outside.

He saw Mindy pass in front of the door to the back yard with a bouquet of flowers in her hands and almost broke the glass trying to get through it.

"Mindy no! I object!" Everyone turned around and stared at this crazy man who was waving his arms around and yelling.

"Danny!? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Mindy please just shut up for once and listen to me! Don't do this! You don't love him! I know I said the worst things to you, and I can't express how much I hate myself for it, but I just… I just want us to be friends again. And maybe even one day something more, if you want. I love you, Min. And I'm sorry for not sending the letter. Or for writing it, whichever you need me to be sorry for. I just… want…" he actually started to look around and the realization started to set in that he might be the biggest fool in the world.

The yard was set up as an outside wedding- there were white chairs facing towards a gazebo, which was decorated in light pink and green flowers. Inside the gazebo stood the officiant and Carl, and when he looked to his right Gwen was standing there in a simple white long-sleeved dress with a horrified, angry expression on her face.

"You're… not marrying Cliff?"

Mindy finally looked like she understood what was going on. "No! What? Why would you think that?"

"Well Tamra…"

"Next time we'll have to write it down word for word. Gwen and Carl are renewing their vows.. they wanted to have people at the ceremony so I brought everyone from the office.."

"Excuse me!" Gwen hissed. "This is not about you right now! Can you sit down Danny?"

Danny awkwardly excused himself and found a seat next to Jeremy, who just smiled at him in that smug, knowing manner. He impatiently sat through the ceremony, while Mindy was trying not to bounce out of her skin. She wanted to stay mad at him but how could she? He thought he was stopping her wedding because he cared… okay maybe that was a bit too dramatic but shit. Nobody has ever done that for her before. She stood next to Gwen and was trying to not look at Danny throughout the ceremony. Finally it ended and she tried to calmly walk to where he was waiting.

She hit him on the shoulder with her bouquet. "You were seriously about to stop my wedding, Danny? Do you know how much I would have killed you?"

He only shrugged and gave her a half-smile, not really sure where she was going with this. "I had to at least try, I guess."

She couldn't take it anymore and hugged him. He was so sweaty still but she didn't care. "I'm sorry for going through your office and reading the letter.." she said, not wanting to let go yet.

Danny just hugged her tighter, his head swimming with possibilities and her perfume. They finally broke apart a little and Danny was reminded of that night at the Christmas party. She was smiling up at him and they were standing so close, he felt like they were the only people there.

"So now what?" Mindy asked, breaking the tense silence.

Danny reached up and started playing with a strand of her hair. "Now, if you would like, I will take you on a date."

Her breath hitched and she could only nod, not noticing that they were getting closer. She decided to just go for it and leaned in to kiss him. Danny responded by moving his hands up her body to hold her head as he deepened the kiss. He felt a hand on his shoulder and they broke apart, both remembering where they were.

"Perhaps this isn't the best place?" Jeremy said, handing them both a glass of champagne.

"Who the hell has a vowel renewal outside in mid-February?" Danny muttered, rubbing his arms.

Mindy and Danny laughed together and he grabbed her hand. This had definitely gone better than he expected, and for once he wasn't lying to himself about being happy.


End file.
